Trouble On Keyboards, With Video
by Writer With Sprite
Summary: Alex Rider and Eagle, sitting in a chat room with nothing to do… Chapter number two: Fox joins in. Ch3: Omegle is now turning into 'Alex-Meets-K-Unit, specifically Wolf.' Now: Snake meets Alex on video chat. Updated 7/15/2012 - complete!
1. Eagle

Alex Rider and Eagle, sitting in a chat room with nothing to do…

## break ##

Eagle sighed. He was bored. Well, that was no surprise there. Unless people were shooting at him he was almost always bored. He took a deep breath and pondered his situation. What was he going to do? There had to be something that he could do. He glanced at his computer that was in his room and his house and booted it up.

He logged onto his favorite group chat. There were always interesting people there. It was unique, because he could get connected to anyone in the world. He really could get connected to just anyone. He had no control; the servers decided it.

In other words, fate decided who it was. Eagle was big on fate. It was something that drove Wolf absolutely up the wall, but Eagle didn't mind. He liked annoying the crap out of Wolf.

At least Wolf didn't usually beat him up.

Gingerly, Eagle reached and felt the bruise on the side of his cheek. That was… _usually. _

## break ##

Alex Rider was bored, there was just no other way to describe it. Deciding to have a little randomized fun, he logged onto Omegle, a chat room where you could get hooked up to totally random strangers. It was an awesome way to kill time.

Unless you got someone who wanted to get in your pants or wanted to get you to visit a website. Alex rolled his eyes at that as he typed on the web address, and then hit the "start a chat – text" option.

You're now chatting with a random stranger! Say hi.

He always hated this part. After typing hi he never knew what to say. He deliberately typed in the words, "hi."

Stranger one: 21/F/Horny

Alex groaned as he quickly hit disconnect. He had _no _desire to read sex chat. None.

He tried "start a new conversation."

Stranger one: "M or female, USA?"

USA? Alex rolled his eyes. Clearly they were after one thing and one thing only. He hit disconnect on that too.

Start a new conversation… he hit that button again. The problem with Omegle was that sometimes the eightieth time was the charm. This time, he was _finally _the person to respond first.

Stranger one: Hi!

Stranger two: Hi!

Then there was that ever so stereotypical silence.

Alex quickly deduced that he was stranger number one, since the other person in the chat was number two.

Stranger two: What's your name?

At least it wasn't "what's your ASL," Alex thought. He pondered quickly – what should he call himself? He certainly wasn't going to give out his REAL name on the internet. There was no way for that.

He quickly typed, "CUB. What's yours?"

EAGLE: Your parents named you after a bear?

CUB: Yes, that's exactly what happened. Alex groaned and rolled his eyes. He sincerely hoped this person was bored and had nothing better to do.

Stranger two: Odd. I knew a kid named Cub once.

Alex stopped. No way. There was no way. He had never given out this nickname to anyone. He had hated it, detested it even. He had refused to talk about his time with K-Unit with either Jack or Tom and had buried it. Sure, he'd used his nickname a few times on here, but he highly doubted that anyone would place it.

CUB: Yeah, so what, his parents gave him the weird nickname?

Alex had to wonder the functioning of this man's mind.

Stranger two: Nah. We met him at this training camp in the Wales. You ever heard of Breacon Beacons?

Alex almost swallowed his tongue. Yes, he had. Oh, God, yes he had. What did he say to this, though? He couldn't give it away.

CUB: Yeah.

Stranger two: Do you know what HAPPENS in Breacon Beacons?

CUB: Hell, I'm guessing.

Alex smirked at that. All of the people had agreed that camp was hell.

Stranger two: Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!

CUB: So… you know my name, what's yours? What can I call you? It's only fair that I get a name.

Stranger two: But you didn't give me your real name.

CUB: Are you sure that you got sent to Breacon Beacons?

Stranger two: Fine! Everyone calls me "Eagle." They say it's part of my charm. Well, all except for Wolf, that is. But he's not really charmed by anything, except by Snake. I think he and Snake are going together.

Alex choked on the bite of bagel that he had just taken. There was no way in hell. After not seeing the K-Unit for two years, he'd met up with Eagle randomly in a chat room? What on _earth_?

He had to play along though. He had to get back at K-Unit. He could probably learn some great blackmail material. He had no idea that Wolf was gay – or bisexual, rather. Wolf had been pretty into girls when Alex had left.

CUB: Wait, Snake's a guy, right? I always thought Wolf liked girls.

EAGLE: …. Well, I don't know. Fox thinks he does. But I think he likes Snake.

CUB: Why on earth?

EAGLE: Because he looks at Snake nicer than he did me. And he said something to that Cub kid about liking Snakes.

CUB: You do realize that the man who is called Snake and _Snakes _are two entirely different things, right?

EAGLE: One has an S on the end, that's all I know.

Alex grinned wickedly, wondering how long he could keep Eagle going before Eagle guessed who he was.

CUB: You don't understand. "Snake" is a human. Or so I'm assuming. Snakes are not human. Not last I checked. What is it with all of your weird nicknames?

EAGLE: Well, I probably shouldn't tell you this… but we're part of a specialized unit force.

Alex grinned. He had to give himself away then, he wasn't going to keep up his position much longer. He had no doubt that if he had been talking to any of the other members of the K-Unit he would have been found out a long time before this.

CUB: K-Unit, right?

EAGLE: Whoa, man, you're psychic! You remind me of that Cub kid! He always figured me out!

_You still haven't realized who I am yet_? Alex asked, literally taking the keyboard and using it to hit his head.

CUB: I'm glad I remind you of that Cub kid. You want to know why?

EAGLE: I always like to know secrets. But Wolf says I can't be trusted, so I don't get to know too many. Why?

CUB: Because I AM Cub!

EAGLE: Holy shit! From Breacon Beacons, Cub?

CUB: No, from Hell.

EAGLE: Well, same place, really. So why are you on here?

CUB: Because I'm bored. Why are you on here?

EAGLE: Because Wolf says I can't have any more caffeine tonight.

CUB: I feel sorry for Wolf putting up with you.

EAGLE: Everyone says that. You really shouldn't though. We have to put up with him. Hey! How are you doing anyway? Did you get your problems straightened out with your daddy?

CUB: …

_My father? _Alex thought. He would never send secure and classified information over insecure servers, so he would have to keep it quiet. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to mentally plan what to say. It would be best just to go along with Eagle's ruse for now, he decided.

CUB: Yeah, I guess. He stopped sending me there anyway.

EAGLE: Well, that's good! They have bad food. And Wolf can be mean on an empty stomach.

CUB: Eagle, Wolf is mean on a full stomach.

EAGLE: Hey! Can we, like, meet up some time?

Alex groaned. No way, he did not want to revisit his past any more than he already had. He swallowed hard and grinned, a revenge plan already forming in his mind.

CUB: You do realize that you're a thirty-year-old who just asked to meet up with a sixteen year old in real life, right?

With that, he promptly hit "Disconnect."


	2. Fox

_A/N: This is set before Alex's mission with Ben, so they don't know each other's names yet. __This is for the person who said that they wanted to see Fox and Alex on chat, and for Nightmareworld. _

* * *

><p>"Fox, you have to see this website!" Eagle said as he made his way over to the computer. "I found Cub on it."<p>

Fox ran his hand through his hair, trying not to allow his teenager-like comrade to get on his nerves. He took a deep, calming breath. "Eagle, this website is also known as _Omegle_."

"What's your point?"

"I mean that if you did actually find Cub on it, it would have been totally by chance. I wouldn't be able to find him again."

"Read the chat and see that I _did_ too talk to him!" With that, the SAS-man-turned-teenager marched into the kitchen and grabbed an energy drink.

Fox silently groaned, wishing that he had decided to go out to eat with Wolf and Snake after all. "Eagle…" he warned, letting his voice trail off as he read the conversation. Whoa. It seemed that the kid was Cub.

Still, there was no way that he would find the kid again. This website made its living off of meeting random people and introducing strangers.

And he would prove that to Eagle.

He dutifully downloaded the conversation so Eagle couldn't yell at him, and then pressed "Start a new conversation."

"_**You're now chatting with a stranger. Say hi!"**_

Eagle came back in the room, and Fox gestured toward the computer screen. "Eagle, se, it's totally random. It's a stranger now."

"Say hi," Eagle instructed, plunking down next to the computer. "Before the other stranger gets mad and disconnect you."

Fox rolled his eyes and, deciding that it would be better not to push his luck with the already-hyper Eagle. Dutifully, he typed in 'hi' into the computer.

STRANGER: 21/FEMALE/HORNY SEE PICS AT (website).

Fox closed his eyes and hit disconnect. "Not Cub, Eagle."

"Sometimes it takes time to connect to the right person. Try using it with telepathy. Here, let me."

Eagle hit 'start new conversation.'

"_**You're now chatting with a stranger. Say hi!"**_

"Hi," Eagle quickly typed in.

Stranger two: Ha-ha your mom smells funny [disconnect]

Fox looked at Eagle. "You found him by chance, kid. Admit it."

"Come on," Eagle pleaded. "One more try. One more."

"Alright," Fox responded, wondering if then he could get on with his day, "one more try."

You're now chatting with a stranger. Say hi!

"Come on, Eagle," Fox said, giving a sigh as he typed in the word 'hi', "This is not going to work. You found him on here by chance. I stress again, 'by chance.' Now, I ask you: what part of by chance do you not understand?"

"I do not admit to understanding any word longer than four letters," Eagle said, grinning at Fox. Fox rolled his eyes and wondered if Eagle had lost his mind.

They would never know if he had, though.

Speaking of which...

"Eagle, how did you make it through private selection training?" Fox asked, turning to the man as he read 'stranger two is typing'.

Stranger two: Hi! ... Now what?

Fox: I don't know. I'm only on here because my friend blackmailed me.

Eagle frowned. "I never blackmailed you, Fox. I couldn't possibly do that."

Fox rolled his eyes.

Stranger one: Hmmm... sounds like something this guy I know called Eagle would do.

"See! He knows me. It's someone else who knows our code names, or knows us! That's so cool, right?" Eagle asked. "Be right back," he added. Fox ignored him as he went to the kitchen, more interested in finding out who the person was that knew them.

Fox: I know someone named Eagle, too.

Stranger one: I feel sorry for you.

Fox: Thanks... I think. So... are we talking about the same person?

Stranger one: Hah! I'm doubtful. I met someone named Eagle on the chat room. Ironically I'd known him from a special training camp. Even though we all got code names when we entered the camp, he still thought my name was 'Cub'. Actually, no, scratch that. He thought my parents named me Cub

Fox: So... what camp was it you went too?

Stranger one: Meh. I guess I could technically tell you. Breacon Beacons.

Fox: And why'd they name you Cub? Fox quickly typed, an awful feeling in his gut. How come, on a site that was totally determined by chance, _he met up with Cub?_

Actually, no, scratch that – that both he and Eagle met up with Cub on the same day?

This was weirder than… well, Fox didn't really know.

Stranger one: Well, it was better than the other one they gave me. The sergeant nicknamed me Cub because I'm young.

Fox: What was the other nickname they gave you?

Stranger one: Double-O-Nothing.

Fox winced at the nickname. Yeah, this was Cub, all right. He felt bad, but didn't really know how to express it.

Eagle appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, leaning over his shoulder. "See! You found Cub!"

"It's still not a Cub chat website," Fox reminded him patiently as he typed in the chat box.

Fox: That must have really sucked.

Stranger two: You have no idea. What's your name and ASL?

Fox swallowed hard, then typed: "You can call me Ben. 25, M, UK."

Stranger two: Second time today I've gotten an older guy. Well…. If you could really call Eagle older.

"I am older than he is!" Eagle whined, pressing up closer to the computer screen.

"Eagle…" Fox warned, glaring at the SAS man, "_personal space_."

"Fine," Eagle huffed as he leaned back on the chair.

Fox: So… Um… I have a code name too.

Stranger one: Now that's ironic… What is it? Please tell me I didn't somehow get Eagle again. That would be too awful to face.

Fox: No, you're right; you really don't want to face Eagle again. He's sitting right here next to me drinking Red Bull. My code name is Fox.

Stranger one: Oh good grief! What is this, the find K-Unit website?

Fox: No, that's exactly what Eagle said about it; though, he said it's the 'find Cub' website. I'm trying to explain to him that the website is found by chance.

Eagle spoke up. "I don't believe you."

Stranger one: I understand. Sounds like something Eagle would do. I think I realize why Wolf was so annoyed during the time I was there. Question for you though: can you do something to pay Eagle back?

Fox glanced up at Eagle. "Eagle, how'd you manage to piss the kid off in a five-minute chat conversation?"

Eagle shrugged. "No clue."

Fox: Probably, although Eagle says he has no idea what he did to make me mad.

Stranger one: He tried to meet up with me. Over the internet. Does he have no clue that I'm under eighteen?

Fox rolled his eyes and quickly typed back: Don't worry, I'll pay him back for that, and yeah, we do. We'd all assumed you were like 17 at Breacon Beacons and had gotten on your father's bad side… how old are you?

Stranger one: I'm fourteen.

Fox nearly choked on his water. They'd sent a fourteen-year-old to Breacon Beacons, and he'd survived? How was that even possible?

"He can't be fourteen. I call bullshit," Eagle said, grabbing the keyboard from Fox and quickly typing.

"Hi, this is Eagle. I call bullshit. You can't really be fourteen."

Stranger one: Do you know how to use Facebook?

Eagle quickly typed, "Why?"

With that, a link was generated, and then: "Check out my age and my picture. Do I _really_ look seventeen to you now that I'm not mud-covered?"

Fox pulled up the page. "We're saving this page and showing it to Wolf and Snake," he informed Eagle as he booted it up. He bookmarked it before Eagle could delete the link, and then checked the page.

ALEX RIDER

BROOKLAND HIGH SCHOOL

AGE: Fourteen

Fox had to take a look at the kid's profile and guessed that the kid was telling the truth. He switched back over to the Omegle chat window.

Fox: "Wow. I can't believe it. I believe you. Why were you there?"

Stranger one: I can't talk about it on an unsecured server.

Eagle grabbed the keyboard once more. "It's Eagle again. We should meet up and you should tell us the whole story. And _don't _disconnect because you're mad at me. I want to know…"

* * *

><p>Alex, back in the comfort of his room, hummed thoughtfully. It would be good to see K-Unit again outside of SAS. If he'd gotten on Omegle twice randomly with them, fate must want him to extract one of his dastardly plans.<p>

He quickly typed,

"Sure. Where to meet?" and then hit 'send.'

This was going to be fun.

FINIS


	3. Wolf

Dedicated to Rosiedude, who gave me "step-by-step directions" which I altered to help create this amazing update. I'll do at least one more chapter... perhaps more if people want it.

* * *

><p>Alex sighed as he logged onto Omegle the next day. He had a meeting scheduled with K-Unit soon. He was so going to take Tom with him. It would be interesting to see them in an outside environment, he decided, away from SAS.<p>

Maybe they'd be nicer.

Either way, he must have earned their respect at least a little bit, he thought. He'd stalked Eagle's page once he'd added him, surprised to see the comments on there. He had not in the least been surprised to see a comment form one Joseph "Wolf" Arlington, stating: "Eagle, no more damn caffeine and phone use at eleven o'clock at night!"

Alex had snickered at that, and had wondered if, after he'd closed the lid to his laptop, that it wasn't _him_ the K-Unit were mad at, if they were really mad at Eagle, and if they really were just frustrated from ten weeks of being with Eagle.

He wouldn't be surprised.

OMEGLE

**You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!**

Alex quickly typed, "Hi!"

Stranger two: HORNY GIRL WANTS HORNY GIRL

Rolling his eyes, he quickly hit disconnect and tried yet again.

Hey, at least it wasn't K-Unit. But he really didn't think he'd met the criteria of what the girl was looking for.

**You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!**

Alex quickly typed in, 'hi', all to find that the person had hit "disconnect."

"What was the point of that, to make my life miserable?" he grumbled at the computer screen. He then hit the button again, muttering to himself, "God, talking to K-Unit would be better than _this_." He snickered. How likely would it be that he'd meet up with K-Unit three times, in two days? The God of Thor or something would have had to have something seriously against him.

He'd chosen the "spy mode" option, in which he was asked to discuss a question with a stranger. It seemed harmless.

Question to be discussed: Tell Wolf not to hold the caffeine hostage! I promise to be good if I can have some! – Eagle

Stranger two: Oh, God, Eagle, out of all the people on here, why did it pair me up with _you_?

Alex quickly typed in, "Oh, you know an Eagle too? Oh, God, no, please do not give Eagle any caffeine. Actually, you should do Omegle a favor and make it restricted access on his computer."

Stranger two: Odd how both you and I know an Eagle. Does your Eagle drive you nuts? My Eagle drives me up the wall. The only reason I haven't shot him and hid the body yet is because he can be a competent solider when he wants to be."

Alex hit himself on the head. He guessed that he was talking to Wolf, but decided not to reveal himself just yet. He decided to play along. "Yeah, I met a guy named Eagle in a training camp – most hyper cadet I'd ever met."

Stranger two: Odd… what training camp?

"You went to a training camp too?" Alex typed, feeling a baiting vibe come over him. He smirked, knowing that Wolf wouldn't suspect. He wondered if Eagle would.

"Classified," came the response.

Alex: "Come on. Classified won't work with me. I went to SAS, Brecon Beacons. How _else_ would I have met Eagle?"

"Fine. I went to SAS too. You should have been lucky – Eagle wasn't in your unit."

Alex smacked himself on the head.

_Really, Wolf_?

He typed back, "Uh… yeah, Eagle was in my unit."

"How is that possible?" Came the reply, and then a 'stranger two is typing.' "Unless you're Fox, which you aren't, because he's at some bar. Or maybe he's at the grocery store; I don't remember which. And Snake is volunteering on a hospital on his medical leave – he doesn't want to be around the house much. And my code name is Wolf; and Eagle is obviously our question-asker… so who are you?"

Alex did slap himself in the face then. Really? Out of how many thousands of people – 16,000 to be exact – he _had_ to meet up with K-Unit?

What on earth were the freaking chances?

He typed, "Great. I've met Eagle on here. I've met Fox on here. I've met you, Wolf, on here. All I need to do is meet Snake."

Wolf typed, "How do you know so much about us?"

Alex responded with, "It's me, Cub…"

Wolf: o.0 - holy shit! – so are you done being grounded?

Alex: You're just as cheerful as ever. I wasn't sent to Breacon Beacons because I was being grounded, Wolf… remember… the whole Point Blank incident?

Wolf: Your father must really hate you if he sent you away twice.

Alex: …

Wolf: But, I mean, you did rescue those kids in the camp…

Alex: …. Really?

Wolf: Are you done being grounded yet?

Alex: I wasn't being grounded when I was sent to Breacon Beacons Wolf. If my parents had grounded me, they wouldn't have sent me away, they would have sent me to my room.

Wolf: Not so. When I was sixteen, my parents grounded me by making me work at a summer camp.

Alex just rolled his eyes. "I'm meeting with K-Unit in about two weeks, after my finals. Are you coming with?"

Wolf: "How did you find out where we lived?"

Alex: "… Eagle told me. I've met both him and Fox on here. And you. Randomly. By chance."

Wolf: That's weird….

Alex: "Somehow, this chatting site has gone from 'chat with a stranger' to 'chat with K-Unit and Cub.'"

Wolf: Yeah… Do you have a Facebook?

Alex: If you think I'm a troublemaker, why do you want my Facebook?

Wolf: We're between missions and I'm bored.

Alex: Eagle has it – you can ask him. If you're brave enough. How do you put up with Eagle on a regular basis?

Wolf: Oh, we have our ways. Oh, crap! It's late. Sorry, Cub, but we have to go – I promised Snake I'd pick him up from work. I'll see you later.

Alex: Bye!

* * *

><p>Wolf folded the laptop lid closed and moved to Eagle's room. He was currently sitting on his bed, reading through the conversation that Wolf and Alex had. He had been lying… well, no, technically, he hadn't lied to Cub. He did have to pick Snake up from work, but not for another two hours.<p>

"Hey, Eagle?" Wolf asked casually, leaning against the doorway.

Eagle glanced up, a full-scale smirk on his face. Wolf sighed, knowing that that there would be trouble. "Yes?" he asked, grinning innocently.

"How come you didn't tell me…" Wolf raised his voice… "That you ran into Cub on a website called Omegle, that Fox did as well, and that you added him on Facebook and you're meeting with him?"

"Oh, I just didn't consider it relevant," Eagle responded with a mock-grin.

Wolf rolled his eyes and left the room, although Eagle could have sworn he heard the man mumbling, _must... not... punch... Eagle... _

* * *

><p>Tom glanced at Alex, a worried look on his face. He'd been there since Ales had first started chatting, albeit on his own laptop. "<em>These <em>are the people we're going to meet up with?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane?"

"Probably."

"Why are you doing it?"

"Because, Tom," Alex said with a content sigh, "payback is revenge best dished cold. Come on – let's go stalk where we're going to meet with them."

Tom frowned. "Did you just hear someone yell _Eagle _really, really loud?"

Alex shrugged. "Oh, don't worry. Happens all the time."

"I'm concerned for that man's sanity."

"Oh, don't be," Alex responded as the two geared up to leave the house. "He doesn't have any. Never have, never will."

* * *

><p>Not yet finished... Reviews are feedback, inspiration, ideas &amp; love. If you laughed at least once, review!<p> 


	4. Snake on Video

Alex grumbled as he booted up his computer. "It's a day later," he assured Tom, "and we're not trying to get on Omegle talk. We're not even trying the Omegle spy chat. We're getting on the Omegle camera chat. Really... How dangerous can it be?" he asked, adjusting the desktop web camera to get a perfeect view of him and Tom.

Tom flashed a cashmere smile. "I don't know, Alex... You're the one who agreed to meet up with them and give them your Facebook, so you must not hate them _too_ much."

Alex rolled his eyes. "I thought we went over this. That Facebook I don't even use; it's the one where the kids at school created it so they could post how I'm a druggie. We also went over the fact that I'm only meeting with them to get revenge... right?'

Shrugging, Tom respnded, "Sure, Sure... and actually, just to keep things straight_, you _created that Facebook for the kids at school to find, and then made a private one for yourself.'

Alex smacked him. "Must you be so specifcic?"

"Yes."

With that, the Omegle video camera registered, and Alex clicked on the Omegle video chat. "Tell me why I'm suddenly nervous?" He asked, taking a deep breath.

"You're not going to run into K-Unit. You can stop being nervous. Here... Let me help you." Tom clicked the 'VIDEO' button.

"Oh, God, hit disconnect!" Alex screeched as he reached towards the disconnect button. It was a man... well, that was all Alex wanted to say. That... and he wasn't completely dressed

"Are you sure this is appropriate for teenagers?" Tom asked, but before Alex could say anything else, the computer connected again to someone else. This time, it was one of the teenagers in their school who made fun of Tom and Alex on a regular basis. He was wearing a hooded sweater and headphones.

"Look who's the one with no life now!" Tom said happily with a smirk. "Can't get back with me online, can you? Huh?"

"I always knew you hung out with a druggie," the man responded, "and now I have proof."

"Yeah... he's not actually a druggie... See how his pupils aren't dilated?" Tom retorted, then said, "Isn't that a little bag of marijuana next to you? How's that working out for you?"

With that, the teen quickly disconnected.

"Tom," Alex said, smacking his friend, "that bag had _popcorn_ in it."

Tom shrugged. "Yeah, it definitely was supposed to _look_ like a popcorn bag..." They then found two random strangers, some little kid and a teen.

"Hi," Alex said.

They disconnected.

Tom took his head, smacked it across the desk, glanced at Alex, and explained, "Head desk, Alex. Haven't you ever heard of it?"

"It's not a real expression..."I mean, it _is a real expression_, but you're not actually supposed to do it."

They connected to someone again. Feeling adventurous, Tom maneuvered the web cam to face the wall, then typed, "Careful, anything you do can and will end up in my novel."

"Tom, you're not actually writing a novel!" Alex hissed.

The girl smiled and then raised her t-shirt, flashing her entire stomach and... well... Alex groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, God!" Tom exclaimed.

She quickly lowered her shirt, and typed, "Put _that_ in your novel."

Alex couldn't resist, but typed back, "will do," getting ready to disconnect. She must have realized that because she raised her shirt again.

This time, it was Alex who banged his head on the desk. Tom saved him by disconnecting, starting a new conversation, and saying, "Careful. anything you say or do will end up in my next novel. Do something remarkable! Hi!"

Then the man's picture appeared. Alex moaned. He knew exactly who the man was and quickly turned the camera to face him. He hastily typed, "Oh, God. It's Snake!"

"Do I know you?" The SAS man typed, looking at the kid. Alex could see him struggling to make out recognition.

"You know him from SAS too, Alex? He has a code name."

"I don't know anyone with the name of Alex," Snake typed back.

Alex spoke up, waving at the camera. "What, you don't recognize me not covered in mud? I'm Cub..."

"Oh, God." Snake buried his face in his hands. "Hang on. Eagle! No more fucking Red Bull, alright? You've had three already today!"

"Correction," Eagle said. Tom and Alex shared weary looks as the man. "I only _pretended _to have two Red Bull drinks, I actually had three. Hey! It's Cub and Cub's twin!"

Alex and Tom exchanged weary looks. Alex whispered, "just go along with it."

"Didn't tell us you had a twin, Alex," Snake typed.

"He's not my twin... he's my half-brother," Alex typed back, feeling guilty for lying already. He swallowed hard but waved anyway. "Don't worry, I fully understand why you were so mad at me at camp. It's called Eagle, isn't it?"

Alex could see Snake roll his eyes as Eagle went back to the kitchen. "Yeah, pretty much. So, why are you on Omegle?"

"We're bored. I'm Tom," Tom said, volunteering. "Although this is looking more like an Alex-reconnects-with-K-Unit site."

"Wait, you've seen the others on here? I'm the only one that has a webcam."

"No, he means that we've talked to him on Omegle via chat. We haven't actually seen him. Hi, Cub." Eagle grinned and leaned back on his chair. "I told Fox this was a meet Alex website, but he didn't believe me."

"It's not a meet Alex website, Eagle. It's by pure chance that we met Cub." Snake gave a tired sigh. "So how have you been?"

"He's been doing good," Eagle spoke up. "Wolf says that he no longer is grounded."

"You were grounded?"

"Don't ask, please," Alex responded. He wanted the K-Unit to think his life was as normal as possible. Well...

"Yeah, something about the drug rumors," Tom said, speaking up. "Be right back, Alex."

"Thanks, Tom!" Alex yelled down the hallway and shook his head. "So, how have things been going with you guys?"

"Good, we're on leave right now. Which unfortunately gives Eagle a lot of access to caffeine," Snake responded.

"We still on for two P.M. Tomorrow, Cub?"

"Yeah," Alex responded. "Still at the mall?"

"Yup."

They could hear the front door open. Snake hollered, "In the computer room, Wolf!"

Wolf ducked his head into the computer room. "What's up?"

"I told you it was a meet-Cub website, Wolf! You didn't believe me," Eagle pouted.

Wolf looked at the screen and rolled his eyes. "Hi, Alex. Didn't know you had a twin."

"We're half-brothers," Alex lied again. Tom had just reappared.

"Oh. Sorry. You look like twins. Snake, how many red bulls has Eagle had?"

"Three," Snake said wearily.

"That settles it. I am _not _sticking around for the afternoon. And no, Eagle, you're not coming with me."

"But Wolf..."

"No!"

Before K-Unit could launch into an argument, the boys heard the door open. "Gotta go, my guardian is here. See ya!" he said, hitting disconnect.

## break ##

"I told you," Eagle said patiently to K-Unit, "it's a meet Cub website."

"I'm going out to somewhere where there will be adults," Wolf said. "We meet up with Cub tomorrow, and I'm going to go... do something productive until then. See you later."

"I'm going to go hide the Red Bull," Snake volunteered.

"I'm going to hide the webcam," Fox responded.

"Why is everyone against me?" Eagle pouted as the trio left the room. Inwardly, though, he was grinning, a thousand evil plots running through his head.

It was never good when Eagle grinned.


	5. Laser Tag, People, Bullets and The Mall

The blonde-headed teenager groaned as he checked his watch for what felt like the thousandth time. Why did K-Unit have to be so damn late? Why the hell couldn't they get their act together? "You're sure this is the right spot, Tom?"

Tom flashed him a cheeky grin back as he ran his hand through his dark hair, his body totally relaxed in contrast to Alex's anxiety. "Yes, I am. Take a deep breath, Alex. You do not have to panic. They are two minutes late. They probably got caught in traffic."

"Good call, but no," Wolf spoke up behind them. Alex nearly jumped as he flashed the man a grimace. "Snake got caught up banning Eagle from drinking any more sugary drinks. They'll be here soon. I think."

Tom and Alex flashed each other a weary glance. "Any more?" Alex asked, raising his eyebrow.

Wolf clapped Alex on the shoulder. "I'm afraid you heard me right." He grinned broadly.

"That's… That's not good," Alex said as he watched Snake and Eagle from the top of the mall. "Looks like Snake won though, I don't see Eagle with a drink."

"Good!" Fox said from behind them, startling Alex. "God kid, you've grown since your mission. Didn't know you had a twin though. Or a brother for that matter."

"We're half brothers," Alex said, deciding to skip the boring story of the adoption that had transpired. "And it has been awhile since you freed me from Six."

Fox grinned unashamedly. He had not been pleased to learn that Alex really was supposed to be at headquarters on a mission and had threatened to resign and sue MI6 if they bothered Alex again. Surprisingly, MI6 agreed to let Alex go. That probably was because Blunt had resigned and Mrs. Jones was now the head.

"That's true, I suppose. Eagle! Snake! Over here!" he said, waving his hand. It was then when Alex noticed that he had a weapon attached to his belt and winced.

"You're on active duty then?" he asked.

"Yes and no. We're on break unofficially, we get sent out tomorrow. But since we're still on paid time, it's still code names and active duty."

"Alex, aren't you going to introduce me to everyone?" Tom asked as Snake and Eagle arrived.

"Tom, this is Snake, the medic; don't get near him when you're injured," Alex said, pointing, "Eagle - the hyperactive sugar fairy is his nickname I believe, don't know where he got that from – Wolf, he's the leader, poor thing—"

Wolf grunted. "Call me 'poor thing' again and I will gladly eliminate you and bury your body."

"And I will help him hide the evidence because I'm bored," Snake spoke up.

Alex coughed. "And this is Fox."

Fox grinned. "Little boy, who are you to call me by my code name when you know my real one?"

Wolf smacked him. "You're ours again remember? Six is lending you out for this mission and we are going on code names. We're on paid active duty."

"Even if it's just babysitting," Eagle spoke up.

Alex looked at Tom and rolled his eyes, sending a silent way of saying "See what I have to put up with?"

Suddenly, behind them, the noise escalated, and a gunshot rang out. Alex groaned even as he dropped to the floor. "Damn it. Like I was saying, active duty. Tom, for this mission I'm renaming you Frog. Don't fight it, just go. Frog – go with Fox and get the police however you can before they shut off the phones. Fox is a whiz with all things technical. Eagle, I want you to start setting up a sniper shot from above on the top floor. I want to know how many people there are. Snake, I want you to go down to their first floor and start getting civilians in a room away from the shooters."

"Not out the door?" Tom asked.

"We don't know how many of them are with the assailants," Wolf responded. "Just pretend this is like that game of laser tag we promised with live bodies. Let's go!" he said. "Cub, you're with me," he said even as another shot rang out. "And operate on radios only – the baddies won't be able to pick up that frequency."

Wolf and Cub moved down the stairs. Even though he'd only worked with Wolf twice, Alex found himself able to stay in step with the man. "Where are we going?"

"We're assessing the police response unit and the men on the first floor."

"…So in English we're seeing how many bad guys there are and how strong their security is," Alex responded. "Well, I chose this mall because I know that each of their security guards carries a weapon, has a thorough background check and has been a police officer on the force."

Wolf looked at Alex with newfound respect. "Impressive."

"I figured safety would be important to you." Another shot and a voice rang out. "I want all civilians to exit the mall, now!"

"Damn, fuck," Wolf swore, "there went Snake's job." He grabbed his radio. "Snake, change of plans. Meet all citizens outside the building and direct them to the park across the street. There may be some injuries we don't know about yet. Eagle, change of plans-you help Snake, there's no way he'll be able to do that on his own. Sorry Snake. Fox, I want you and Frog to tell me how many bad asses we're dealing with, okay?"

"Copy," Snake said. "Eagle copies too."

Suddenly the mall was plunged into darkness.

"Double fuck," Wolf muttered as he looked around at the darkness. "Okay, Alex, our tactical operations have changed." With that, he dropped his backpack down, grabbed out a flashlight and a gun, and handed them to Alex before taking his own flashlight.

"You're giving me a gun?" Alex asked.

"Bug off it kid, I know you're licensed even though you aren't supposed to be," Wolf said. "Fox, Frog, do you copy?"

There was nothing. "Shit," Wolf muttered grimly as he looked over the vast area. "How many shots did you hear?"

"Three, two were from different guns. One was fired instantly after the second one." The mall was mostly emptied now, with many of the civilians emptied out.

Wolf nodded. "Call 999, tell them we need backup on the way. Tell them four SAS soldiers are here, and that one may be missing with a minor."

"You think Fox and Tom have been taken?"

"When you risk nothing, you risk more,*" Wolf responded. "I'd rather tell them that to get their asses over here faster. Make sure you specifically say SAS, or they'll be pissed when the SAS show up and they're not on the scene."

Alex nodded. "Got it," he responded as he flipped open the phone. He placed the call, and despite the operator's demands, dropped the cell phone on the floor.

Another shot was fired and another scream.

"That's Tom!" Alex said as he started for the stairs.

Wolf grabbed him. "Hang on, Cub. Don't go down there. They know that if they hurt him they'll get us. We have to twist their logic to get the drop on us. I doubt they want your friend, they're probably here after something extremely specific. I need you to think: has this place been in the news lately? You live a lot closer to it than I do."

Alex bit his lip, not wanting to tell Wolf that he didn't usually watch the news before the thing hit him. "A security guard was fired recently for something and he vowed revenge, but that's the only thing I can think of."

"That's what we assume then. We assume this is a revenge thing. That means our tactical plans change. If he was fired, - assuming it's a he here – I'm assuming he's going to be in need of some financial security. With the vowed revenge that sounds like a robbery. What was he arrested for?"

"…Uh…" Alex struggled to recall the headline Jack showed him at breakfast. "Embezzlement," he said, speaking up finally. "Embezzlement."

"Please help me!" a voice begged out in the corner. "I need to find my son, I can't find my son! My son was here and I can't find him!"

Wolf turned to Alex with an invisible groan written all over his face. "Sir, you need to evacuate the building immediately. It's extremely likely that your son is already at our evacuation site."

"Evacuation site? Who the hell are you to tell me that!" The man responded angrily. Alex saw him reach ever-so-subtly for his pocket, but before he could move, the teenage spy grabbed him by his legs and tackled him with a bang to the floor.

Suddenly, another shot rang out. "I thought you said your kid would be here!"

"I thought he would too, this is where he works!"

Wolf growled and with a feral cry launched himself at the other man, tackling him down before he even realized what happened. Wolf grabbed his pair of handcuffs and cuffed the man together. Alex nodded towards the belt store, and Wolf saw the idea instantly. He grabbed his prisoner by his arm and dragged him there, tying him with a belt.

The man started to struggle in Alex's grasp, but Alex was able to keep him pinned firmly to the ground. It helped that Alex had grabbed his hands and had pinned them down with his legs. "Why are you here?"

"Let me go, you can't arrest me!"

"Oh, don't worry. The proper authorities are coming to do that in a minute. I just wanted to know why you were here."

"Because I'm looking for my son," the man pouted.

The word deceit pointed to Alex's mind and he frowned. Something was wrong here, really, really wrong. "You're the guard who got fired on the news the other day, aren't you?" he demanded.

"Fuck you!"

"Sorry, I'm straight," Alex deadpanned even as he realized that Wolf's theory was sort of right. Okay, this guy was supposedly looking for his son and he'd been arrested on an embezzling charge. How did those two go together? "You might want to try that again. I heard you got arrested for embezzling, is that right?" he asked even as he let up the pressure on the man's arms enough for Wolf to tie them over.

"Go to hell!"

"Why were you here though? I mean you could have robbed a bank, started over… as it is you robbed a mall…" suddenly a thought clicked with Alex.

"Wolf, the newspaper."

"Yeah, I don't read the Sunday edition –want to give me the headlines?" Wolf asked as his eyes narrowed.

Alex snorted. "This guy was arrested for embezzlement, remember that? The big controversy was that he was the father of the SEO and that his son had hired him, so when he arrested him he swore revenge on his son. That's why he's here looking for his son."

"Go to hell!"

"Fox!" Wolf said, waving as Fox lead up the SAS troops. "Why the hell didn't you respond to the radio call?"

"Technology is great until it's jammed by idiots who are trying to jam the phone lines and failing," Fox deadpanned. "We found the CEO, he's safe."

"He deserves to die!" the man responded. Alex got off him as a CO-19 squad moved him away with the other two.

"Thank you," the head of the squad said to Wolf. 'I'm told you are the leader of your unit?"

"Yes."

"Your men are extremely efficient. Without their help, many would have died today. This man had plans to assassinate the entire mall, but when your men defused his bomb and got rid of his target audience, pun intended-"

Wolf snorted.

"He tried to get revenge on the CEO, but as you can see, failed. We owe you a debt of gratitude."

Snake and Eagle walked up, with Eagle bouncing as though he'd just had caffeine. Alex sighed when he saw a Monster in his hand.

"Who diffused the bomb?" Wolf asked even as the rest of the squad became active.

Tom meekly raised his hand. "Little button here, little button there… good thing Alex taught me to pay attention in physics," he said with a grin.

Alex didn't mention that wasn't part of their physics class but an incentive he'd used to make Tom pay attention in the class.

Well damn.

"Fox, you let the kid defuse the bomb?" Wolf asked even as he turned back to the officer. "I'm glad we were able to help… Do you need us for anything else?"

"Can I have your business card? We may be in touch."

"We're going to Afghanistan the day after tomorrow, so we'll be out of reach. You can have our employer's number," Wolf said, slipping one of the sergeant's business cards from his pocket and handed it to the man. "Let's move out. I've had enough laser tag for the day."

As the Co-19 unit departed, Fox said, "Wolf, you know my gift isn't bomb diffusion. It was probably really a good thing I didn't do it."

Suddenly, Snake thought of something as the two headed for the nearest restaurant. "Laser tag with people and bullets, Wolf? I thought we were playing the safe, G rated version of the game!"

"Yeah, well, plans change," Wolf said with a grin even as they all started walking away from the clearance tape.

"What are we going to tell the kid's parents? " Snake demanded.

Tom shot Alex a grin. This was going to be so much fun.

And to think the day wasn't even over yet….

~~ finished ~~

After much deliberation I finally bring this to a close. I apologize for my delay; I needed to take some time off to clear my head. I have been working with Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur on the Writers4all story, A Complicated Game of Cat and Mouse, and have been applying jobs to join the workforce. Now I'm back in action and ready to take on more creative works.

Hope that you enjoyed. And this is the conclusion of "trouble on keyboards, with video." Violence was requested by Aestiva. If you have a minute, please take the time to leave a review! Don't forget to check out A Complicated Game of Cat and Mouse!


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